Versailles: Furniture of the Royal Palace, 17th and 18th Centuries (2 Volumes)

It was not until after World War II that France rediscovered Versailles and the project of restoring the chateau and refurnishing it was undertaken. Over the past fifty years patient research and huge financial efforts on the part of the French State and French and foreign sponsors have succeeded in bringing back to Versailles a large part of the original furniture. This has been supplemented when necessary by pieces of similar high quality, dating from the same period. Restored, like the decoration of the rooms, in accordance with the highest possible standards, the pieces of furniture have been returned to the places they occupied at a given moment during the successive reigns of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. Until now, this prestigious collection of furniture had only partially been the subject of publications. For the first time, it is here presented as a whole, in two richly illustrated volumes.